Archive
THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS – Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
In early 1999 an under-the-radar science fiction action movie called The Matrix opened and immediately became a pop culture phenomenon. It’s filmmakers, the Wachowski siblings, were lauded as icons of the genre, and were given the green light by Warner Brothers to set into motion two sequels. Both The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions premiered in 2003, but the response to them was… shall we say… somewhat mixed, and the shiny luster that had been on the Wachowskis began to tarnish. While the visual scale and special effects of the sequels were top notch, the story was criticized for being impenetrably dense and overly-confusing, a mishmash of philosophical ruminations about destiny, free will, and the nature of reality, blended with enormous action set pieces. And then, for almost 20 years, The Matrix quietly disappeared into movie lore. The Wachowskis went off and made other movies – Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas, Jupiter Ascending – with equally mixed critical and commercial results. But now, The Matrix is back with a third sequel, subtitled ‘Resurrections,’ and it’s equally as polarizing as its predecessors. Read more…
A HOLOGRAM FOR THE KING – Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
A romantic comedy-drama based on the novel by Dave Eggers, A Hologram for the King is the latest film from German director Tom Tykwer, the man behind such films as Run Lola Run, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, and part of the ambitious Cloud Atlas. It stars Tom Hanks as Alan Clay, an American businessman who travels to Saudi Arabia in a last-ditch attempt to save his failing telecommunications company, intending to pitch the ‘deal of a lifetime’ to a member of the Saudi royal family. Upon arriving in the country, Clay immediately has to deal with the enormous culture clash between the United States and Saudi Arabia, baffling local customs, a language barrier, and his own contemporary preconceptions about the country and its people. However, with the help of a wisecracking taxi driver named Yousef (Alexander Black), Clay gradually begins to acclimatize to the desert, and even begins an unexpected romantic relationship with a beautiful doctor, Zara (Sarita Choudhury). Read more…
CLOUD ATLAS – Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Trying to write a brief synopsis of Cloud Atlas is an exercise in futility, given that it is one of the most dense, multi-layered, and complicated – but brilliant – films in several years, but I’ll give it a go. It’s based on David Mitchell’s sprawling 2004 novel, and at it’s core is a story about humanity’s continual yearning for freedom in all its forms, the way in which the threads of life are interlinked across time and space, and how the smallest gestures in one lifetime can have enormous and profound effects on generations to come. The film spans six separate time periods across multiple geographical locations, and even different genres. Contrary to appearances, these disparate elements all do connect with each other, having been expertly woven together by directors Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer, who worked separately on three segments each, which were then edited together to form the final cut of the film. It stars an ensemble cast including Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant, all of whom play multiple roles across the different stories, under varying applications of hair, false noses and prosthetic teeth. Read more…
THE INTERNATIONAL – Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The International is a contemporary – and somewhat prescient – action movie/political thriller starring Clive Owen as Louis Salinger, an Interpol agent who teams up with a Manhattan district attorney to expose a high-profile financial institution’s role in an international arms dealing ring. The film, which also stars Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl and Ulrich Thomsen, was directed by German leading light Tom Tykwer; as he did on his previous movies (notably Run Lola Run and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer), Tykwer teamed up with regular collaborators Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek to provide the film’s score. Read more…
PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER – Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Das Parfum: Die Geschichte Eines Mörders, by Patrick Süskind, is the most successful and popular post-war novel published in Germany. Since its release in 1985 it has sold over 15 million copies worldwide, and has been an inspiration for a myriad of people in a number of creative arts. Set in 18th Century France, the story follows Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a young man born with no personal odour, a complete lack of emotion or compassion, but possessing an incomparably keen sense of smell. After charming his way into becoming an apprentice to a perfumer, Grenouille embarks on his life’s work: the creation of a perfect scent that, he believes, will make him fully human. However, in order to achieve his obsessive aim, Grenouille begins to seduce and murder virginal young women in order to “steal” their smell. This unusual, evocative, somewhat disturbing tale has been brought to the screen as Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by popular German director Tom Tykwer (of Run Lola Run fame), and stars Benjamin Whishaw as Grenouille, Dustin Hoffman as perfumer Baldini, Rachel Hurd Wood as the beautiful Laura (the ultimate subject of Grenouille’s twisted affections), and Alan Rickman as Laura’s father, Richis. Read more…
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